Athletics administrators must recognise SA's relay potential ahead of Rio Olympics

South Africa’s sprint battalion will today drill as a unit for the first time in preparation for the 4x100m relay heats at the Bird’s Nest stadium tomorrow morning.

That’s hardly ideal for a world championships, but the speedsters are used to it.

That’s what they did before finishing fourth in a 38.35sec national record at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last year.

“We just had to put it together,” said Akani Simbine, who shares the 9.97sec national 100m mark with Henricho Bruintjies.

They are the only two survivors from that team, with 200m star Anaso Jobodwana and 110m hurdler Antonio Alkana coming in for Simon Magakwe and Ncinci Titi.

“There were a lot mistakes that were made throughout the team, but it just shows the potential that the actual team has,” added Simbine.

“We could have gone a whole lot faster.”

Even when SA won this relay at the 2001 world championships in Edmonton — they ended second, but their silver was upgraded to gold after the US was disqualified later for a doping offence — the preparation was done late.

 Mathew Quinn, the anchor of that relay, recalled how the full team trained together for the first time two days before that race.

“Lee-Roy [Newton] and I practised in Durban before worlds [they ran the third and fourth legs respectively].

“Morne [Nagel] and Corne [du Plessis] ran the 200m so we were restricted until the last two days to do the rest.”

Changeovers are critical.

That was the problem the last time an SA 4x100m relay team raced in this stadium, at the 2008 Olympics — they were one of four countries that dropped the baton in a bizarre heat on a rainy, slippery night.

The US was one of those casualties.

This time the US are favourites to win this event, with Jamaica their strongest rivals.

The bronze medal is considered to be open, with the most likely candidates to come from Canada, France, Great Britain and SA.

Those were the only nations to boast two, or more, sprinters in the individual 100m semifinals last weekend.

University of Pretoria teammates Simbine and Bruintjies, co- holders of the 9.97 SA 100m record, both made the semifinals here.

US-based Jobodwana competed in yesterday’s 200m final and Alkana, who comes from Cape Town, was unable to advance past the heats.

The SA relay has podium potential at the Rio Olympics next year, but they will have to qualify first — a fast time here could seal a spot at the 2016 Games.

And hopefully they will have better training opportunities, perhaps being brought to together to compete in some meets in Europe.

“In the beginning of the year the rest of the world goes and does their relays … starting a relay team off fresh at a championships is pretty late,” said Simbine.

The success of this relay in Rio might depend on local sports administrators acting with foresight, rather than relying on four quick men to slap it together in a day.

The politburos of Athletics SA and the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) can either pick up this baton, or drop it.

It’s their move.

VIEWING TIMES FOR BEIJING WORLD CHAMPS EVENTS THIS WEEKEND:

Today (Friday afternoon):

Men’s decathlon, high jump (Willem Coertzen — 10.15am)

Women’s javelin, qualification group A (Sunette Viljoen — 1pm)

Women’s 100m hurdles, semifinals (1.25pm)

Women’s long jump, final (1.50pm)

Men’s 1500m, semifinals (Johan Cronje — 1.55pm)

Men’s decathlon, 400m (2.20pm)

Women’s javelin, qualification group B (2.25pm)

Women’s 200m, final (3pm)

Men’s 110m hurdles, final (3.20pm)

Women’s 100m hurdles, final (3.35pm)

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Tomorrow morning (Saturday morning):

Men’s 50km race walk, final (Marc Mundell — 1.30am)

Men’s decathlon, 110m hurdles (Willem Coertzen — 3am)

Men’s decathlon, discus group A (4.05am)

Women’s 4x400m relay, heats (4.15am)

Men’s 4x400m relay, heats (4.40am)

Men’s decathlon, discus group B (5.20am)

Women’s 4x100m relay, heats (6am)

Men’s 4x100m relay, heats (SA — 6.20am)

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